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VANCOUVER - A chemical fire at Vancouver's port was declared fully extinguished Thursday after burning for more than 24 hours, allowing investigators to start their work to determine what ignited it.

The shipping container caught fire a day earlier, sending a plume of white smoke into the air, which prompted health warnings and led more than a dozen people to visit local emergency rooms.

The city's fire department issued a news release late Thursday afternoon announcing the emergency was over.

"The scene is safe and secure," the statement said.

The statement said fire officials planned to open the container after nightfall, depending on wind conditions. Staff from the provincial Environment Ministry were also on hand.

In total, 15 people were treated at hospitals for smoke inhalation and all were released, according to Vancouver Coastal Health. Of those, 10 patients were treated in emergency rooms at St. Paul’s Hospital, two at Vancouver General Hospital, one at Lion’s Gate Hospital, and two at Burnaby Hospital in the Fraser Health Authority.

Crews from Vancouver Fire and Rescue Services worked through the night to suppress and monitor the fire burning in a shipping container at the Centerm Container Terminal at Port Metro Vancouver, said port spokesman John Parker-Jervis, in a statement Thursday.

“Our primary concern continues to be the safety of first responders, the public and all port workers,” he said, adding that port operations have resumed on the South Shore of Burrard Inlet, with the exception of the Centerm container terminal, which remains closed, and a 100 metre exclusion zone around the burning container.

Also Thursday, Vancouver fire chief John McKearney said investigators don’t know what caused the fire to erupt deep within one of the shipping containers.

“We won’t know until that container is open and we can do that research,” he said, speaking to reporters at Crab Park near the port on Thursday morning. Smoke could still be seen drifting into the air from the site Thursday morning, but McKearney echoed health officials saying fire investigators believe the air quality is safe. “The plume is rising above the container, about 25 feet and it is dissipating.”

McKearney said Vancouver Fire and Rescue will be reviewing its emergency plans and making sure they are up to date. “Communication is always an Achilles heel in these types of situations,” he said.

Measures are being taken to ensure run-off from the firefighters’ water doesn’t enter the Burrard Inlet, said McKearney. “There’s a berm that has been built to collect that water,” he said, adding that officials from Environment Canada are on scene to assess the environmental impact from the incident.

Vancouver police officers in full-face gas masks helped evacuate workers and residents from the Downtown Eastside after the streets darkened with smoke fuelled by trichloroisocyanuric acid, a chemical commonly used to chlorinate pools.

Police ordered people to leave or stay indoors in a partial evacuation zone that stretched west from Nanaimo to Main streets and south to Hastings Street, and advised anyone north of First Avenue to close their windows.

The city of Vancouver said in a statement Thursday that air quality readings are at safe levels and that the most affected areas Wednesday afternoon, including north of 1st Avenue and west of Nanaimo Street, are safe to go outside, except for those experiencing respiratory problems.

The city said the Ray Cam community centre has nurse practitioners and physicians on site and at the clinic next door for anyone needing primary care Thursday.

Dr. Meena Dawar, a medical health officer with Vancouver Coast Health, said symptoms of exposure to trichloroisocyanuric acid may include wheezing or difficulty breathing, particularly for those with underlying lung problems.

The four-alarm hazardous materials fire started in a container at the Centerm container terminal and spread to other containers, according to officials. Vancouver Fire and Rescue Services Capt. Carol Messenger said the call came in at 1:38 p.m., and at least 10 fire trucks and more than two dozen firefighters responded. A pair of fire boats were later dispatched to attack the blaze from the north end of Centennial Pier.

The fire forced the cancellation of the West Coast Express commuter train and the rerouting of some buses.

Many businesses located within a few blocks of the fire shut down their operations, allowing employees to leave. Some who fled plugged their noses and covered their mouths to protect their lungs from the smoke and pungent smell.

Despite the continued police patrols, hundreds of people remained on the streets in the Downtown Eastside, the area nearest the fire. Area residents stood outside shelters, sat on street curbs, and chatted while watching the action. Nearby, shoppers at the Sunrise fruit and vegetable market on Powell Street and Gore Avenue continued their errands, undeterred by warnings over police loudspeakers, and TransLink bus drivers picked up and dropped off passengers at transit stops.

Lani Brunn, with the Lookout Emergency Aid Society, walked through the neighbourhood offering people refuge inside nearby shelters that the society operates. But some people chose to remain outdoors.

The dangerous acid can also be found in dry household bleaches, dishwashing compounds and other cleaning agents, according to the federal government.

The Centerm terminal and nearby port properties were evacuated, according to Port Metro Vancouver, and all Burrard Inlet south-shore port operations were shut down, including rail and truck access.

Vancouver waterfront fire extinguished (with video)

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